Watson praise
for youngsters

OUR BUREAU

Rajasthan Royals captain Shane Watson was a very happy man after his side registered a comprehensive seven-wicket win against the Delhi DareDevils, in Delhi, on Saturday.

Excerpts

Shane Watson: I am very satisfied with our performance today. It feels nice to be able to restrict such a high quality batting order to around 150. We controlled it well in the middle with Pravin Tambe and Rajat Bhatia.

We’ve got quite a lot of bowlers to mix and match and the way Karun steered the ship home during our chase was quite exciting.

The actual credit behind such a successful team must go to the management, because it does a brilliant job spotting the talent and we like to encourage the young guys to play with freedom. We have seen this before with Sanju Samson and today with Karun.

On the other hand, it is very disappointing not to be able to play in Jaipur. I love playing there and it is almost my second home. We’ve had a lot of success there. But I’m sure Ahmedabad will be good for us as well and hopefully we can make that into our fortress.

Kevin Pietersen: Obviously, it’s disappointing to lose at home. I thought the 10th over, in which myself and Quinton de Kock got out, undid us. It was poor for both of us to get out and we didn’t have enough runs on the board. I want the boys to keep their heads up. They’ve done all they could and that’s all one can ask for.

We are satisfied with our bowling attack. We’re talking in the right language and the boys are training hard and that’s all anyone can ask for.

Karun Nair (MoM): In the matches that I played in the UAE leg, I didn’t give myself enough time in the middle. Today, I was determined to give myself time. And it worked for me.

I am thankful to Watson and the team support staff for having faith in me. There are quite a few legends in the dressing room and they are backing me. I want to thank Watson and the support staff for showing confidence in me.